Sunday, 9 June 2013

Storytelling Sunday 3 ~ 26 Years Later….

I had a completely different story in mind for the June edition of Storytelling Sunday, hosted by Sian at From High in the Sky, but I wanted to tell this one instead.

I didn’t share my story last Sunday, because I was meeting up with these lovely boys. Thanks to a friendly stranger, enjoying a coffee and the view, I have this great shot of us all standing at the top of Gold Hill. I’m sure they were never this tall!

26 years ago we all left school and went our separate ways. The story goes back further than that though. Some of us first met in 3rd Year Latin lessons. I went to the High School in town and we had our own Latin teacher. The boys from the local Grammar weren’t so lucky and they had to come to lessons at our school. I can’t imagine why we were all so keen to be allowed to study a second language.

Fast forward a couple more years and after taking our O Levels, we all went parachuting together on a school trip. Yes, really. I don’t suppose it would happen now. After that it was hiking and camping on Dartmoor for our Duke of Edinburgh Awards. I was never a girly girl and my poor Mum despaired of my tomboy ways.

Four of us were also very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to India for 5 weeks. Another school trip. Two other friends joined us for that experience, but couldn’t make it to the reunion. One of them lives in Australia now and the other was flying as part of his work with the Aerobility charity so we’ll let them off.

I feel very lucky to have been part of this group of friends at school and to have had the chance to meet up again after all these years. We had coffee at one old haunt and lunch at another, then spent the sunny afternoon in the beer garden reminiscing. It was as if no time had passed. What could be more precious than that?

Scraping in under the wire, although it seems a shame to mess up the nice neat rows in Mr. Linky!